I will NEVER go to another gun show again

I went to the Franklin Tn AG center show this morning. $10 was ok... There were some very reasonable dealers and then some stealers. As to be expected. I guess the reason I won't go to another show is pretty simple, safety. Indoor ranges are bad enough, but this is about the 5th gun show for me in about 16 months time. Right off the bat, before the show even started, a guy getting an SKS out of a car muzzle swept my friend and I. He unloaded the rifle AFTER he swept us pretty good.. standing in the first 200 people to get there, a guy behind us somewhere said " oh crap, and unloaded his Ruger Blackhawk. His buddy had a Glock Magazine that was full, and per the sign " no loaded magazines", he took it to the car. Well, the entire line of folks bringing in their long guns had NOT been chamber checked by the show admins... I know I am sounding like a gun grabber, which I am clearly not. So much muzzle sweeping and mishandling of guns it wasn't even funny anymore. Once inside, muzzle sweeping left and right. Some wank was testing an Eotech and was shouldering an 870 and pointing it all over the place... We made our rounds, bought a few things, and got the hell out of there. I have never been to a gun show that instructed some sort of code of conduct about weapons. In my opinion, they need to be patrol carried and stop aiming at people walking around. Are all gun shows this negligent? As gun owners, and right to bear arms Americans, in general, we need to enlighten some people about general gun safety and awareness. I am proud to be a gun owner, and you should be too, but not what I have been seeing at these shows. I really mean it this time, no more shows... I really mean it.... Hope nobody gets hurt.... Take care.

You can't fix stupid. You can't fix it on the public highways and you can't fix it at gun shows. Actually if I look at things on a per capita basis I am likely safer in a gun show than on the highway. While I can't speak for your location up my way all guns are checked. The show promoters lay down the rules and the rules will be complied with.

That is in fact true about public roads, but I can certainly take a wider, divided and well lit road instead. That and if somebody is cutting in and out of traffic, I can avoid that guy... So yeah, you could stay at home and live in a padded room and die of cancer. Or, you can also increase your odds and stay away from people who do not have your safety in mind too. I forgot, our favorite was towards the end. A man was showing a lady the Smith and Wesson Bodyguard with a crimson trace. She was sighting on on the bystanders. Hahah. Awesome work ...

How and where is a fella going to shoulder a rifle or shotgun to see how it fits at such a show?

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Point it at the ceiling or something.
Just don't point it at me, my chest, or my head!!!!

I keep getting red-laser dots dancing on me at the Topeka KS shows from three aisles away.
That, or a mall ninja in baggy pants below his crack is jumping around and swinging a ninja sword in a crowded aisle like he was Bruce Lee or somebody.

Two three years ago, I no more then walked in the door when a dealer had a ND with a .45 ACP!

While laying on the floor, I was amazed how long the bullet ricocheted around the concrete exposition hall before it finally ran out of steam without hitting anyone!

How and where is a fella going to shoulder a rifle or shotgun to see how it fits at such a show?

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I have ALWAYS made it a point to 1.) check the breech to assure the gun is empty, 2.) if aiming the gun, I ALWAYS aim it upward because human beings can't fly....and the places I go to gunshows don't have second floors.
I have always made it a deliberate POINT to NEVER hold a weapon so it's muzzle is pointed at anyone, and if I cannot arrange to do it a safe way then I will not shoulder a longarm or sight across the top of a handgun.

Getting swept is about par for the course at gun shows (and gun shops, too). I don't like it either. Yet I still go to shows because the possibility of an accident is statistically very small. (Actually, this same reasoning applies to anything having to do with guns.) When you see someone doing something unsafe, speak up. People do these things out of ignorance and/or absent-mindedness, not ill will.

As a woman, I am always extremely careful to exhibit safe gun handling in public (as well as at home). I feel that I have to represent my gender being as capable as men, that I have to be doubly careful as I will be doubly judged....personally and as a woman.

We went gun shopping to a very crowded Cabelas the weekend after the CT shooting...looked at several guns and managed to handle and sight them safely...and making sure I did so was foremost in my mind. The last thing I want is to be judged as a 'silly female that just doesnt know any better.'

As a woman, I am always extremely careful to exhibit safe gun handling in public (as well as at home). I feel that I have to represent my gender being as capable as men, that I have to be doubly careful as I will be doubly judged....personally and as a woman.

We went gun shopping to a very crowded Cabelas the weekend after the CT shooting...looked at several guns and managed to handle and sight them safely...and making sure I did so was foremost in my mind. The last thing I want is to be judged as a 'silly female that just doesnt know any better.'

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Indeed. My wife is competent with firearms and very safety minded as well. I'd trust her anyday.

As a woman, I am always extremely careful to exhibit safe gun handling in public (as well as at home). I feel that I have to represent my gender being as capable as men, that I have to be doubly careful as I will be doubly judged....personally and as a woman.

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I worry far less about inexperienced females than inexperienced males. The male predisposition toward and intuition with mechanical things leads to overconfidence. Women are more innately cautious in general, and tend to want to learn how something mechanical works by instruction rather than figuring it out. As such, females are usually less likely to use something improperly or unsafely.

I have worked behind tables at gun shows all over the Midwest for years and it is truly ubelieveable that people can be so stupid and unthinking and yet be issued a driver's license and allowed to vote and raise chiuldren. Several times I have been in huge auditoriums with an incredibly loud background noise level that forced you to almost yell at anyone to converse. Suddenly, BANG. The immediate silence is almost spooky. But the promoters and the cops can't possibly really check every person or gun that enters the building and so it happens. More than you would think. Someone fired a .223 in a show in Illinois and hit two people. Keep your head on a swivel folks. Going to some gun shows can be the riskiest thing you ever do next to going to a public range on a busy day. I gave that up too.

Imagine needing a gun, and having to go to a flea market in the Khyber Pass of Pakistan. I think you'll be o.k. at a US gun show. Totally safe, no, but better off than most gun shows in other parts of the world. You just have to look at things objectively. Of course, if you have all the guns and ammo that you want or need, why are you at the gunshow? If not, take the dare!

Speaking of unsafe gun handling, not at the gun shows,as they are all very safe around my neck of the woods; however, last Sunday I gave a firearms safety class followed by actual shooting instruction. Note everyone, all 4 students were instructed to bring their firearms to the class unloaded. A bullet trap was in place just outside the classroom. Well this old boy, who "didn't need any saftey class, he just wanted to go out and improve his shooting technique". After explaining to him that the class included a very intense safety course prior to shooting, he reluctantly complied. Needless to say guess who had a round in the chamber when I checked the firearms? You guessed it "the old boy". Then we got out to the range; all the students were instructed to not load their firearms until called to the shooting line, and then once instructed to. This "old boy" did not heed my warning and while instructing another shooter loaded his firearm directly behind us, as I heard his chamber close. That was all she wrote for "this old boy", as I immediately had him leave the range, as my safety course went in one ear and out the other. Like someone else said "you can't fix stupid".

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